Last Place During the Holidays
by Illusion of Insanity
Summary: Ah, the holiday season. It's a time of giving, warm feelings and as any commercial will tell you, shopping. Usually, Ethan Gold is smart enough not to to the last bit of his shopping so late in the season. However, a last minute run quickly turns into a nightmare when the worst situation possible happens. He gets stuck in an elevator with the future owner of one of his gifts. Oops.


Ethan wasn't much of a fan of holiday shopping.

Things in Johto were a lot safer than say, the holiday season of three years ago, but shopping for everyone on his list was still a drag. There was the lines to contend with, vicious shoppers with heavy purses and worst of all, that feeling deep in his mind that he was never going to find what he needed. However, thanks to an astounding number of coupons, a heavily researched list of items and their isle locations and a very fast checkout—thank every Legendary from here to Hoenn—he had finally finished his last burst of shopping.

And so, with what felt like a hundred pounds worth of items hanging from his arms in festive cloth bags, Ethan Gold proudly made his way to the elevator and headed for the exit.

Where he promptly met a certain young woman.

The black-haired teen had to do a frantic double-take to make sure he wasn't seeing things. Sure enough, a girl just his age with vibrant blue hair was standing right in front of the elevator's buttons, her attention locked on a PokéDex. A sharp feeling of dread overwhelmed him as her thumbs flew over button after button before whipping out a stylus and scrolling on-screen. Then, she gave the screen a final jab and turned to face him.

Ethan could have heard a pin drop as the doors trapped him inside.

"Hey, Crystal—" He had to gulp down some anxiety as he realized that the bag closest to her just so happened to hold _her gift_, unwrapped and in a prime location for snooping. He decided it was best to play cool and ignore that mental rant he was partaking in about the chances of such a thing happening. "I didn't expect to see you here. Out shopping today?"

Well, he just earned himself a few obvious points, probably around ten or so.

"Actually," The blue-haired girl tucked her device away and turned her head slightly as to give him her attention. "Just pulling something out of layaway. You know how crazy it is to be shopping so late."

"Yeah," He was pretty sure his face was burning. "I was just grabbing the last of my list." The humorous raise of her eyebrows was enough to make him wish he had taken the stairs.

"Really?" The lift in her voice only made things worse. "Well, you could have fooled me. What did you do, put only one thing in a single bag?" He just let out an awkward laugh and shuffled away slightly.

"It prevents damages, you know?" A small droplet of relief formed before dropping into his stomach. "Say, what floor are you headed to?"

An audible grunt of surprise filled the enclosed space before Crystal glanced over to the long string of buttons. "Ground Floor." She paused before looking back to her companion with a spark of amusement in her bright blues. "I'm assuming you're heading there as well."

"Yeah, I am." A bit of awkward silence broke in the conversation before he had managed to point to the lonesome button in the bottom row. "Could you maybe hit that for me, please?" The teenage Trainer just nodded before pressing a finger to the pad quickly and standing tall in the enclosed space. Ethan however, leaned against the railing and prayed that this would be over soon.

Unfortunately for him, he had used every last drop of his luck in getting his Christmas presents.

Just as the machine roared to life, the great cage jolted its passengers and came to a—literal—screeching halt. Both teens struggled to steady themselves as the lights flickered above their heads. Black nothingness swooped in before the emergency light fluttered in on humming wings. Both of these unlucky shoppers fought for breath as their hearts leaped out of their chests.

"What in the name of Celebi just happened?!" Crystal was noticeably furious as she gripped the safety rail. "After not using an elevator for over three years, the next one I step into promptly breaks! What the heck!"

"Yeah!" Ethan was still gasping for air, but he wasn't feeling much better about the subject. "What are the chances of that happening, anyway?! I mean, doesn't Goldenrod service these things?!"

The incandescent bulb was still loudly humming without a tune, adding to this bleak atmosphere. Blue hair slapped Ethan's face as the normally rational teen glared at the row of buttons. "Where's the emergency button?" She growled as she looked the seemingly thousands—which was actually only about twenty very small buttons—of lightless orbs. "Law states that you _have _to have an emergency button in case of machine failure, so where is it?!"

He felt like his breath was stuck in his throat. Amber eyes quickly scanned the dark space as panic began to set in. Either Crystal was just paranoid, or there _wasn't_ an emergency button. He started to feel a bit dizzy as the two-man search proved fruitless.

"Let's stay calm," Ethan wasn't the best for such things, but he was at least going to try and keep his mind longer than five minutes. Blue eyes seemed to burn a hole in his face as he slowly set his bags down on the floor of the elevator. "I'm certain that we'll get out of here soon."

"Don't you get it?!" He nearly flinched from the desperation in her voice. "We. Are. Trapped. In. An. Elevator!" She almost looked like she was going to start screaming, which _really_ didn't make him feel very comfortable. "We could be here for _hours_!" She then promptly slid to the floor with her face in her hands before muttering, "I knew I should have taken the stairs!"

The black-haired boy opened his mouth to try to calm her down, only for his Pokégear start ringing. All eyes snapped to his short pockets as the device buzzed with a message. Crystal just stared at the vibrating pocket before slowly looking up at the owner of such a rude phone.

"Well, don't just stand there!" The bluenette was literally on her feet in a matter of seconds. He even backed himself into a corner to avoid a grabbing hand. "You've got phone reception! We're saved!" She then proceeded to jump up and down with glee, shouting that last phrase over and over again.

The teenage male just shrugged before pulling out his phone. Sure enough, he almost had full bars inside of this cursed machine. Looking to see who had just called him—and cringing because of just _who_ it was—Ethan Gold then saved the day by pressing the redial button.

The duo waited in pained silence as the device rung loudly, waiting to connect to the other line. Finally, just as the last ring was about to end, someone picked up.

"Ethan?" The feminine—yet slightly cocky—voice that came over via speaker was proof enough that the current Champion of Johto and Ethan's estranged best friend was currently on the line. Crystal just slowly fist-pumped the air in silent joy that someone had picked up. "What's up?"

"Uh...hey, Lyra..." A certain air of awkward was currently engulfing the speaker as he struggled to breathe. "You know how I went shopping today?" An empty pause resonated before the brunette on the line responded with an obviously annoyed 'yes'. Cue the chuckle that usually meant he had messed up and the hopeful stares from Crystal.

"Well," Ethan found himself walking just slightly away from the railing and a tad closer to the silent audience. "I kinda got in an elevator and it just sorta...broke down."

Another moment of silence consumed his pride as the girl let out a muffled deep breath and a sigh. "You're kidding, right?" A bit of grumbling was quickly followed by an irritated declaration that no, he was not joking around and that literally the first elevator he's used this whole holiday season just broke down with him in it.

"Fine," Relief was so thick, you could have eaten it for your lunch. "I'll be over in just minutes, You're pretty lucky that I'm actually in Goldenrod right now, to be honest." And with that, the young Champion hung up the phone.

Not a second after he hung up, Crystal flung herself at his shoulders and probably gave him the most painful hug he's had in his entire life. "Yes!" The screaming in his ear actually didn't help much either. "I can't believe we're getting out of here!" Before he could say a word, the girl was already picking up his bags and handing them over to him. "Hold on tight, Ethan Gold! This elevator's going down!"

* * *

><p>It was around fifteen minutes later when the machine slowly scraped downwards, screeching as loudly as possible. Both teens covered their ears with moans of complaint before the cage came to a slow stop. They exchanged a worried and questioning glance before the doors of the elevator slid open, revealing a brunette in a black leather jacket, skinny jeans and some black, knee-high boots.<p>

A heartbeat later and a familiar redhead came into view with his Magneton, giving the trapped pair an annoyed look. Ethan resisted the very strong urge to growl at that disgusting thief and instead focused on the young Champion. He opened his mouth to thank her just as Crystal blurted out hers and grabbed the brunette in a tight embrace.

That gurgling of pained 'you're welcome' told him that even Lyra couldn't stand tall against that deadly grip, and warned him not to say too much or risk being swallowed by that hug as well. Silver eyes just rolled in annoyance before the teenage delinquent recalled the partner responsible for coaxing the metal trap into motion.

"That was _insane_!" The second Crystal let her go, the blue-haired teen was already spewing the hair-raising tale. "The second he got on the elevator, the thing just stopped working! I swear, I thought I was going to be stuck in there with him for the rest of my life!"

Ethan wasn't even going to hide that her words sorta stung a bit.

"Well," He slowly turned to see that dreaded boy shrugging his shoulders and elbowing _his _best friend. "At least you had enough to survive in there." The rescued duo exchanged a baffled look before he went on, "If you're going to be stranded, at least you managed to score a mate to help you and your bloodline survive."

Sputters of protest, denial, exclamation and in Lyra's case, laughter rang out on the Ground Floor of the Goldenrod Department Store. Many holiday shoppers gave the quartet of teenage Pokémon Trainers looks of disdain as the blaring holiday music was obscured by their commotion. In fact, things only got worse as Ethan nearly lunged for the redhead in anger, only withheld by the strong grip of the blue-haired female and the desperate yelling of the brunette.

Well, so much for the holiday spirit.

* * *

><p><em>Author's Note: A drabble thing I wrote at HalfcurehalfDisease's request on my Tumblr. I never really write anything for NewBark shipping (or MangaQuest, whatever you want to call it), so I decided that they should have a chance to shine for a moment. I used their HeartGoldHeadcanon! personalities, so Crystal is serious unless under pressure, and Ethan Gold has a bit of a temper you could say. Also, Silver is being a little butthead and instigating with Ethan just because he knows that the boy likes Crystal. Yup, he's such a nice guy.<br>_

_Anyway, I hope you enjoy this! (And I really need to write more for these guys. I really neglect this pair of Johto Idiots.)_


End file.
